A blog dedicated to my efforts to (yet again) lose weight! There are so many reasons to hate being fat, here are my 101 reasons. Why 101? Well, I figured I have over 100 pounds to lose so there are definitely more than 100 reasons I hate being fat! What do you hate about being fat? Please sign my guestbook and tell me, I'd love to hear from you!

9.02.2009

#104 - The Effort of Being Fat!

Let's face it; being fat takes A LOT of effort! Being fat takes much more than the normal amount of effort, on both physical and psychological levels. When I'm fat it takes so much out of me! Let me describe this in more detail... a list within in a list if you will.

1. Dieting. It seems that fat people are always on a diet, or at least attempting to be on a diet! Think of all the time and effort that goes into following all the programs, portioning out just the right amount of food, planning meals, shopping for the right ingredients, and frankly all the effort of feeling guilty when you eat something that you're not supposed to. I think fat people spend WAY more time thinking about food and food preparation than thinner people. Have you ever found yourself planning your next meal just as you took the last bite of your current meal? I know I have! I'm always planning (and not always in a good way - sometimes I'm planning when I'll have my next brownie)!

2. Physical. Being fat is hard work! Now I'm 5'6" with a stocky frame, so by my doctor's calculations I should weigh roughly in the 160 pound neighborhood. I'm currently 280, so that means I'm carrying an excess of about 120 pounds! Wow that's a hefty load! I mean imagine a 160 pound person having to carry around a 120 backpack all day long. Geesh, that would take a lot of effort. It takes a lot of work to lug around all that extra weight! Even walking up a flight of stairs can seem like a major task if you are carrying that much weight. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted, even if I've only done a few things around the house! Think of all of the other physical limitations of being fat. If you were healthier, you could play longer with your kids, you could enjoy physical activities like sport more, hell, even sex would be better!

3. Psychological. I think being fat adds so much undue stress to a person's life. Fat people have so many worries about being fat. We worry about what other people think about us, we worry about our diets, we worry about our health, we worry about getting dates, we worry about everything! That takes so much effort to constantly worry about stuff. And it's not just worrying. There are many other taxing emotions that face the fat afflicted. Many fat people suffer from depression and loneliness, though this may be a case of the chicken and egg. Which came first? The fat or the depression? Some would argue that being depressed leads to overeating and then obesity, but others would argue that being obese in itself is depressing and leads to further depression. I'm not sure on this one. Was I depressed when I was thinner and got then fat, or was I fat and then got depressed? The jury is still out on this one. I'm sure it's different for everyone, regardless, dealing with depression takes effort. You find yourself constantly having to give yourself pep talks to keep your spirits up or talk yourself out of yet another neurosis.

4. Health. Being fat is clinically proven to be bad for your health. Many people who are fat have to deal with medical conditions brought on by their obesity. It could be diabetes, high blood pressure, a heart condition, or even bad knees; they all take a lot of effort to deal with. With all of these afflictions there are numerous doctor visits, medications, and regimens that must be followed, all of which take a ton of effort. Imagine all the extra time you would have if you didn't need to keep popping pills or going to the doctor!

5. Work place. It's been shown that obese people are less likely to be hired than their thinner counterparts, mostly due to overly simplified stereotypes of the obese as being thought of as lazy and stupid. Now if you're one of the lucky ones and have a job, it's also been shown that obese people earn less money in the same jobs than skinner folks. So in the work place the obese person needs to make more of an effort to shine above the rest and prove their worth as a good employee. Who woulda thunk it? Being fat even affects the amount of effort you need to put into a job.

So what am I getting at with all of this? Well clearly being fat sucks. Not only does it carry awful social stigmas and health risks, it takes a lot of work! We always bitch and moan that losing weight is so hard and takes too much time and effort, but really it's so much harder being fat! Stay fat and spend a lifetime of hard work and effort to maintain (or should I say deal with) your fat body, or spend a few weeks, months, or years of effort losing weight and getting fit and healthy. It's our choice. Now by nature I'm kind of a lazy person. I always look at losing weight as such a major task, like it just TOO hard. But really when you put it into perspective, being fat is much harder. The amount of effort I mentioned above is just hitting the tip of the iceberg. It just takes so much effort to be fat. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to work so hard on all of the things we need to do being fat? I think the time is now to put in the effort and get healthy. All your efforts today will pay off for a lifetime!

Update: I know a lot of you have been wondering where I've been. I'm here, just trying to deal with life. As you see by my stats my weight hasn't budged! Yup, I'm still 280. So why the slow down? I'd been doing so well, consistently losing about 0.5-1 pound per week. Well let's face it; I haven't been putting in the effort into getting healthy. I've been letting the fat weigh me down (pun intended). Sometimes life throws you curve balls, and I got a whopper. Now I'm not trying to make any excuses. I know I'm not putting in the effort and it's reflected in my lack of weight loss, but I thought I'd fill you in on what's been up. In May I got laid off. :( Woo hoo, gotta love the economy! So I've been coping with being an unemployed person. Truth be told, I've been holding a pity party for myself. We you're unemployed for a while you really start to doubt your own self worth. I have a PhD and I can't even find a job, so I keep wondering what's wrong with me. Then I keep going back to that statistic about how it's harder for an obese person to find a job and I wonder if that's part of it, which in turn, makes me feel even worse and leads me yet again to that wonderful pan of brownies... yeah I know, I should know better. These walls on my pit of despair are steep, but I keep trying to claw my way out! I'm not going to get stuck in that rut of feeling sorry for myself and turning to food as a way to cope. I just have to keep reminding myself that's just the economy; so many others are in the exact same boat as me. I really need to remind myself of the big picture, that getting healthy NOW is important and will make me feel much better for the rest of my life. Hard times are no excuse. We'll be dealt a bad hand in life now and again. Learning how to deal with the tough times the right way is so important. Many people turn to their vices during the rocky times, whether it be drinking, drugs, or in my case food. But all of those things merely mask the pain. They don't solve your problems, only you can do that by facing them head on. That's why I say now that I'll always be a recovering fat-a-holic. The temptation to slide back into old habits is so easy. Sure I may have fallen off the wagon for a bit, but I'm not quitting

59 comments:

So glad to hear the update. I'm sorry about your job... that sucks. But yeah, I am pretty sure it's the economy and not your weight. You have the personality and the brains to get any job you want! Hang in there, it'll happen for you.

Thank you for this - it's a good reminder. Losing weight seems overwhelming but it is actually not so hard. It's just making some different little decisions and doing it over and over. Should I eat the M&M as I walk by the bowl? Old decision: Yes! New decision: No! and just keep making the little decisions that are in line with the bigger goal. I can make the healthy decisions one, two, three times in a row. but then I get tired, or I forget, or I get frustrated, and it seems easier to make the unhealthy decision. But really the health decision is not that much effort.

I'm sorry to hear about your job and I know what it's like in that slippery-walled pit of despair. It sucks. It really does. Keep looking for a way out - you have lots of fans rooting for you.

I lost my job in March so I know exactly what you are going through, both in job loss and weight loss (I also have about 100 lbs to lose). I decided to call it quits on the old career and move forward with a new one and am currently in grad school for my masters in education. It's VERY easy to fall into the pity party scenario and sometimes you don't even realize you're depressed until someone else points it out. I know it's difficult but take the newly found free time you DO have now to make the changes you perhaps didn't have time to make before. Exercise is key (but what I consider the most difficult challenge of all). Even if it's 10 minutes a day to walk to clear your head, it WILL help and be maybe the small jump start you need to get back to staying on track. Good Luck!Rochellewww.weightwedding.blogspot.com

I wonder what diets you have tried. There are actually some out there that work. There's also some easy tips you can do without killing yourself thinking about dieting.

For example, an easy way to drop weight is to drink more water. Studies have shown that when we don't drink enough water our bodies tend to store it. When we do get enough water our bodies don't store as much because it knows more is coming.

I wrote an article with simple tips like this and it can be found at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2102681/why_i_cannot_lose_weight.html?cat=5

OMG i am happy to have found you & i didn't even read your blog yet. But i will! i have 2 blogs- an everyday life one & a weight loss one, called "try try again". Please check it out! Anyway, i'm sure i can come up with 100+ reasons i hate being late (which is how much weight i have to lose as well). But i see you have already lost quite a bit!!! Go you!!!

I just found your blog and I love it! I'm also 5'6, and I'm 243 lbs. Last year I was 176 lbs, I gained a lot of weight when I quit my job, where I didn't have time to eat. Now I have too much time! I miss my old stressful job and my old body, but it's incredibly difficult to lose the weight! I'm more and more embarrased to go out, go to the gym, jog and interview for a new job. It's a never-ending cycle! :(I hope you reach your goal weight, and I'll keep reading you and try to follow your example :)

Lost the job! Well, this too shall pass.Certainly being fat really hurts you both ways, physically as well as emotionally. It’s really required to have a figure that society accepts and which you are comfortable to show off to others.

I just started my own blog -- and yours is inspiring and funny and so true at the same time -- If I added up all the time I've stressed about what to wear, been uncomfortable about my size or just everything feels harder the more I gain even walking to work!!

I can totally identify with everything that you said. But after 10 years of being overweight I've finally found something that really works for me. It's a meal replacement that’s brand new and it tastes just like a vanilla milkshake; I’ve also lost 20lbs in two months. I don’t know if we’re allowed to post links but here’s the site that I order from http://healthyresultsnow.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/revolutionary-product-in-the-weight-loss-industry/

You know the economy is in bad shape when someone who has a PHD not only gets laid off, but can't even get another job! I got laid off about a month ago also. I've applied to like 20 different positions, and I haven't been hired either...and my thoughts turn to the same things your do- "what if they're not hiring me because i'm fat?" which like you, makes me just reach for some junk food. It's rough, but stay strong!

CONFIDENCE is the most important thing! Know who you are, and embrace it at whatever size you may be.

I feel you. However, you should not hate what you are, consider your abilities and capabilities in which you'll shine. Hard work will always be an option to succeed with your goals. If your life's in the down side let it all up. Have faith. :)

I was feeling a little down, and happened upon your blog. I must say, I'm more happy to have read this than you can know. I feel like you've been dealt an extremely similar hand to me as far as both weight and economy dealings go and it's good to see that there are others out there who are managing the issues I too am facing.

Like so many people, I've had a weight issue for as long as I can remember, and my weight really fluctuations with how I'm feeling (I've used my situation as an excuse to eat badly for a long time). In grad school, I gained a lot of weight due to stress (ironically, I was working in a health research lab). Now after grad school with a masters degree, I can't find anything more than part time retail. For the past year or so, I've been feeling like there's something wrong with me- I'm not smart enough, I'm never good enough (seeing as there are apparently so many other people more qualified for jobs such as receptionists and assistant positions that should be easy for someone with a masters degree to be qualified for), and I ask myself what the heck else I can possibly do. I end up settling back with some bad choice food, and I eat MUCH more of it in one sitting than I should. I can just zonk out and suddenly the entire package of whatever I was eating is gone.

You're very wise when you say that being fat takes effort. I've never really thought of it that way before. It's always presented to us as the opposite: it's so easy to get fat but getting/ staying thinner is the hard part. But when you look at at all the issues you've suggested, from the mental and physical strain, to the fact obese people make less money and have to work harder to prove themselves than perhaps their thinner (yet equally qualified) counterpart, it makes me seriously wonder why I've been doing this to myself.

I have a wedding coming up next year, and I know that I'd find myself feeling better overall if I could lose some of this extra weight and actually BE the person I see in my mind's eye. Sometimes my weight makes me feel like I'm somehow less than everyone else, and my lack of confidence shows. I want to be able to exude the confidence I actually WANT to show the world: I'm worth it, I know it, and if you don't agree that doesn't effect me in any way". Next time I start to reach for a bad food option, or think about skipping some exercise I know I need to release stress, I'll remind myself that by NOT doing these things, I'm just making myself work harder by worrying so much about the extra weight I'm forcing upon myself!

The benefits of the Acai berry diet makes it an excellent aid not only to those who wants to lose weight but for all who wants to strictly meet their dietary requirements. Unlike another fruit diet known as the Grapefruit diet, the super fruit can meet amino acids, omega fatty acids, and antioxidant requirements of the body. The Grapefruit diet is limited to providing an enzyme that burns fat. The theory is not yet even proven and there is no clear explanation whatsoever how the Grapefruit diet is supposed to work.

I am so excited I can contribute good news and say something positive. You have to check out: www.losangeleshcgmedical.com

After the last 3 months or so, I feel as if I understand why I struggled with weight my entire life. We are all different and our bodies, family history and other factors play a huge role in how and where our bodies store fat.

I started a program in September, with Doctor oversight, that really worked. I have lost over 60 pounds of fat without harming my healthy tissue (muscle) since starting. I feel as if I discovered a secret cure to weight gain.

It may help you, too. You can learn more, and even see testimonials from others this has worked for, www.losangeleshcgmedical.com. I wish you the best of luck.

Diets are great if you want to gain weight. They don't work. Denial will have you focussing on all those foods you have told yourself you shouldn't have. Take a look at my blog, there are a couple of posts on there that might be of interest. I specialise in helping people to lose weight without dieting. Weight Loss specialist blog

I know that extra weight also made getting ready to go out a lot of effort. I would often have to change my top 3 and 4 times to hide my extra rolls. It's way less effort to put something on and look great right away. Great post.

I justed wanted to say thank you. I have a problem with late-night binge eating, I will do well all day and blow it at night with a bag of doritos. I have finally decided to lose weight and I was having a particularily tough time tonight. I googled for some moral support and found your blog and you helped remind me of why I'm on this diet in the first place. I immediatly added this page to favorites for future moments of weakness. Again, THANK YOU!

I wish you luck with losing weight. But I would just like to remind you not to obsess over it too much or think that thin people have everything better. I meet a lot of thin people who still feel bad whenever they eat a brownie or ice cream instead of salad or whatever. I think the key is balance and instead of thinking and worrying about how you eat or look, you should just get lost in doing something you love. Then you get to the point where avoiding junk food isn't torture, it just doesn't sound that good. Also if you don't like the gym or whatever why don't you take up a sport or something? Biking is super fun. This is the first time I've read your blog, so maybe you already got all this stuff down. I don't know. Just usually I feel like Americans stress and obsesses too much.

I also have terrible problames due to my over weight. To get rid of this problem I am start searching the net to find something that can help me to lose some weight. During my search I have found simple 20 steps that can help to burn fat. This might be help you but for me this steps and the suggestion help me to get rid of from my over weight problem

Thank you for the post! I'm currently stuck at weight loss and having my parents telling me "you are too fat, why aren't you losing weight now?" everyday just made me so angry and lost desire to lose weight. Your post motivated me (and it's my first time here).

Being Asian in America, I also have the additional problem of all my American friends saying "you are fine!" and all my asian relative/friends saying "you are so fat." Urgh.

I had been looking for such kind of a clinic that can cater to me safe and fast weight loss. Actually I am very foodie and that’s why I keep on putting weight. But now I think I can manage to lose it by the CALMWM program. This clinic now provides FREE consultation on weight loss. California Medical Weight Management fix free appointment: http://www.calmwm.com/cmwm/contactus.html

why is it that all fat over weight or obese people feel the same...its like reading my o9wn thoughts....ur blog that is.....i have to say something y would people sideline people who are fat ...i mean being fat isnt a curse after all....i mean wat right have people got to call someone names...or laugh at someone just because he she is fat:(and i think there z a definite linkup bw being fat n depression...hats off for such an original blog..

Discrimination against overweight people is prevalent nowadays. We can't blame them, as we know they do have a problem. They can go under the knife if they want quick results. But they still have to maintain a healthy lifestyle after the procedure.

One of the most fashioned trigger of being obese or obese is right away related to a poor food regimen, bad eating habits, little to no exercise or a mixture of those. Though the explanations that folks are obese are particularly contested and debated, such a lot professionals agree that the basic principle in the back of way to lose weight is to devour more effective, or even less, and to head extra. Your frame has to burn the extra calories it doesn’t use so as to facilitate weight-loss.

If your goal is to lose fat as fast as humanly possible, it should be no surprise that you absolutely MUST learn to maximize the amount of time your body is actually burning fat. After all, if your body is actively burning fat for 10 hours each day, you'd get much faster results than if it were only burning fat for five.

But what if you could literally burn fat twenty four hours a day…every day?

Do you realize how much faster you'd progress? How much more quickly the fat would melt away? How much more rapidly you'd have the body you want?WEIGHT LOSS

Being overweight is not healthy. I have been slightly overweight, I hated the feeling: it required extra effort getting out of bed and having a glass of water. I was getting tired faster, and so on.diet plan

Physical. Being fat is hard work! Now I'm 5'6" with a stocky frame, so by my doctor's calculations I should weigh roughly in the 160 pound neighborhood. I'm currently 280, so that means I'm carrying an excess of about 120 pounds! Wow that's a hefty load! I mean imagine a 160 pound person having to carry around a 120 backpack all day long. Geesh, that would take a lot of effort. It takes a lot of work to lug around all that extra weight! Even walking up a flight of stairs can seem like a major task if you are carrying that much weight. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted, even if levitra I've only done a few things around the house! Think of all of the other physical limitations of being fat. If you were healthier, you could play longer with your kids, you could enjoy physical activities like sport more, hell, even sex would be better!

Discrimination and bullying is common this days, and not only does it happens to kids but to adults as well. That's why I'm losing weight to be able to have more opportunities in store for me. I'm not losing hope, I am losing weight. Rocalabs is keeping me motivated to just keep on going.

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I think the biggest problem in loosing weight is when people don't eat enough.It results negatively on the body where our metabolic system starts damaging.So many people get in shape from eating dangerously low amounts of calories and excessive amounts of cardio and then then they gain it all back and can't get it off again.

About Me

I'm a medical/ science/ nonfiction writer living it Texas. In my quest to get healthier, I've tried to refrain from my favorite activity of baking yummy goodies! I've shifted my life from one in front of the tv to one in front of the computer - I guess I've gone from couch potato to mouse potato!